Triumphs, Failures, and Everything In Between

Sci-Fi and Country Music

I was thinking the other day about how much Big Man and I have influenced each other over the course of our relationship. We’ve been married for almost 7 years, but have been together for over 11 years. Wow, seeing that on paper makes me feel old. In that time we have both come to appreciate and even love things we never anticipated.

I think one of the ways to be a good wife is to involve yourself in your husband’s life: his interests, hobbies, and passions. (The same goes for being a good husband). This is something Big Man and I have tried to practice throughout our relationship. It doesn’t mean that we like all the same things, or pretend to. But it does mean we take an interest in each other’s likes and hobbies and try things that the other wants. And we respect each other’s opinions, even if we don’t always agree. And it has worked out really well for us! We have both come to enjoy quite a few activities we never thought we would, and learned new things about each other and ourselves.

When Big Man and I got married, the most exposure I’d had to sci-fi was Star Wars. And while I enjoyed Star Wars (the original films), I never had any big desire to experience more sci-fi. Then we got married, and Big Man got me hooked on Stargate. We watched all of SG-1, Atlantis, and Universe together during our newlywed years. And then we moved on to the recent Star Trek movie. And Firefly. And Serenity. And we have more sci-fi on our “to watch” list that I am just as excited about as he is (Doctor Who, here we come!)

The same works for Big Man. When we started dating, he “hated country music.” But when he was deployed during our engagement, I sent him quite a few mixed CDs of my favorite country songs. And once he gave it a try, he discovered the awesomeness that is country music. We’ve been to a couple country concerts together (the Toby Keith/Trace Adkins show rocked!) and enjoy discussing artits and songs with each other.

Those are just a couple examples, but there are many more. And I know that we will continue to learn from each other throughout our marriage. Because we are both open to trying new things with each other, and because we both respect each other’s opinions and interests. He will probably never like baseball as much as I do, and I’ll probably never be into zombie movies. But we appreciate each other’s interests and treat each other with respect, even if the subject isn’t our “thing.”

So what about you? What things has your spouse taught you to appreciate?